The Iron Queen
by EtTuBrute
Summary: Set in the middle of New Moon. Strange dreams and bizarre occurrances in Forks lead Bella on a terrifying adventure. When she learns a deadly secret, it could cost her everything. Can the Cullens save her in time?
1. Chapter 1

'And then there's those other things

Which for several reasons we won't mention

Everything about 'em is a little bit stranger, a little bit harder

A little bit deadly'

-Rufus Wainwright, 'Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk'

Chapter One

_The Dream_

"Excuse me, miss?"

I paid no attention to the nagging voice, instead trying to keep the darkness inside of me at bay. It took all of my energy to keep from curling into a ball on the floor. I took slow concentrated breaths, careful to keep my thought blank.

"Miss?" A hand waved in front of my face. "Are you ok?"

I couldn't ignore the voice any longer. I looked up from where I was sitting on the counter at Newton's.

"I'm on break," I said, the words coming out a little more sharply than I intended. The owner of the persistent voice turned out to be male. His eyebrows drew into a frown."You look like you're going to be sick," he said, looking concerned.

"Can I help you find anything?" I asked wearily, wishing I was in my bed at home. At least I could be alone there. I slid off the counter and attempted to smile at the man. I must have failed because he stared at me for a moment, looking hesitant. Shrugging, he asked me about camping equipment, and I spent the next 45 minutes explaining the various uses of a canteen. After he had left, Mike Newton walked over to me.

"You look beat, Bella," he said, looking at me as though I were about to break into a million little pieces. Who knew, perhaps I was. "Why don't you take the rest of the day off?"

Nodding my head, I methodically packed up my things and headed out the door. Before I knew it, I was at my house, with no recollection of driving home. It began to thunder ominously, warning that it was about to storm, but I had barely enough energy to open the door of my truck. Thankfully Charlie wasn't home yet; so feeling as if I was going to break down at any moment, I all but crawled into the house and up the stairs. After what seemed like hours, I reached my bedroom, and collapsed onto the bed.

_A beautiful woman walked along a meadow, periodically picking wildflowers and winding them into the bouquet in her hands. She sang a strange melody under her breath as she worked. _

_"Mother!" a voice called out from behind the trees. The woman turned, smiling, and opened arms to a beautiful doe-eyed girl running toward her. The girl wore a white dress identical to her mother's, and both women were barefoot. Laughing, they began to dance around the meadow. The mother threw the bouquet into the air._

_"I have a surprise for you!" she called as petals and leaves rained down._

_The girl smiled. _

I awoke with a start, momentarily stunned. This was not the usual nightmare that haunted me every night. Rubbing my temple, I listened to the rain pounding on the rooftop. Who were those women in the meadow, and, more importantly, why had I dreamt about them? I pulled my quilt up over my head, pondering long after the rain had stopped.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two _Pranks_

I awoke to the sound of my alarm clock, realizing that I must have dozed off last night. Groaning, I slowly got out of bed. I had a monstrous headache, so I shuffled into the bathroom and grabbed a couple aspirin. Turning to go downstairs, I glanced at my reflection in the mirror. I had dark rings under my eyes, and my hair had grown longer and wilder without my notice. Sighing, I turned away. My appearance didn't really matter to me anymore.

"Good morning, Bella," Charlie said cheerily, as I stumbled into the kitchen. He was frying something on the stove. I raised my eyebrows. Charlie didn't normally cook. Being a bachelor for 18 years, he had lived on take-out and cold pizza before I had come to live with him.

"Bacon?" he asked, and set a plate of it on the table.

"You're cooking?" I asked, glancing sideways at the plate.

"I cook a lot," he said indignantly. I rolled my eyes and sat down. Charlie muttered something about ungrateful daughters under his breath.

After breakfast was finished and Charlie had left for work, I walked over to my truck. Yawning, I climbed in. It was a rare sunny day in Forks, but suddenly I felt chilled. I had the strangest feeling that someone was watching me, but when I looked around, I didn't see anyone. _Stop it_, I told myself as I started the engine. _Stop hoping its him_. The dull roar comforted me as I made my way to school that morning.

I tuned out the various voices like I did everyday, and in turn, I was ignored. The day progressed as usual, but I couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching me. I was mentally scolding myself in History when an earsplitting scream sounded in the hallway. Everyone spilled out of the classroom, curious to see the cause of the disruption. A girl stood in the middle of the hallway, pale and shaking.

"What's going on, young lady?" asked one of the teachers.

The girl pointed a trembling finger at the front door. "Rats," she whispered. I turned and saw that there were indeed two dead rats lying in front of the door. Looking around, I also spotted one in front of every classroom doorway. People began muttering to each other, looking confused.

"Please, everyone. Get back to class. We'll take care of this," said the teacher.

I paid no attention when class had resumed, instead I wondered about the prank. Who would do such a thing? I was grateful for the distraction, though, because it kept my mind away from other things. When we walked back into the hallway after class was over, the rats were gone. From the confused look on the teacher's face, I figured that she hadn't yet had a chance to move the rats. I shook my head. Dead rats appearing and disappearing was incredibly weird. At least it made for an interesting day.

While I was making dinner that night, Charlie walked into the kitchen. "I heard you had a prank pulled at your school today," he said, eying the clam chowder I was preparing.

"Yeah, it was kind of strange," I said. There was no use asking him how he had heard. Being a police chief of a small town, Charlie knew almost everything that went on.

"Huh. Well, it was probably just a couple of kids with too much time on their hands," he replied, and the subject was dropped.

Later, after I had finished clearing the table, I decided to get some of my homework done. The day had provided a much needed distraction for me, but now that I was alone, I could feel my composure begin to crumble. Taking deep breaths, I walked into my room and sat at my desk. The computer was as slow as ever, and as I waited for it to log on, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Turning, I noticed something on my nightstand. How had I missed it earlier? Walking closer, I saw that it was a vase with a bouquet of dead flowers. There was something oddly familiar about the bouquet. A note was written on thick vellum under the vase. As I read it, I began to shiver. Abruptly, I realized where I had seen the bouquet before. It was from my dream the other night. I had been so distracted today that I had completely forgotten about it. Suddenly I felt so tired I could barely stand. I swayed, and barely had enough time to make it to the bed before I was swallowed in darkness.


End file.
